![]() Blackmore said she remains loyal to Jeffs and the church and is unwilling to testify. One person who won't be at trial is Millie. He will authenticate Millie's voice on the recording, and corroborate the account of some church records, he said. Blackmore, a half brother to Millie and the son of the defendant with the similar name, confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday that he will testify. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also are believed to have a recording of Jeffs having sex with Millie. Neither he nor the son-in-law he received that day, James Leroy Johnson, have been charged with any crimes in the United States. They also recount how, on June 25, 2004, Oler's 15-year-old daughter, Carma Elaine Oler, was married in Mesquite, Nev.Īccording to those records, which have since been entered into court cases in British Columbia, Oler married a 15-year-old girl that day, too. Those records recount Jeffs' marriage to Millie. Much of the evidence against the Blackmores and Oler comes from records seized from Jeffs' Cadillac Escalade and from the ranch. The jury also will hear about how law enforcement apprehended Jeffs as he was driving near Las Vegas in 2006 and about the 2008 raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas. Jurors will hear how FLDS members live in a region that stretches from Texas to Utah to 1,000 miles and one international border north in Lister, British Columbia.įLDS members have resided there since the 1940s in a community they call Bountiful. ![]() The trial figures to be the polygamy version of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" "What I'm very sorry about is only these people are charged because there were so many others involved in shipping kids down" to be married, said Nancy Mereska, an Alberta resident and founder of the Stop Polygamy in Canada Society. It's thought to be the first time polygamists in Canada have been put on trial for allegedly facilitating a daughter's underage marriage or the sex that followed. They face up to five years in prison if convicted. They and another Canadian who will be tried with them, former FLDS bishop James Oler, each are charged with one count of removing a child from Canada for the purposes of sex or sexual exploitation. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.Those priesthood records and other documents from the sect will be used by Canadian authorities to prosecute Blackmore and Crossfield Blackmore in a trial that is to start Tuesday in Cranbrook, British Columbia. “He testified to this, that the ceremonies were common-law unions, and he understood that to be legal.”Ĭlosing arguments in the case are expected to be heard on Thursday. Blackmore believes his actions were lawful, so he can’t possibly have the intent to commit a crime,” Suffredine said. Suffredine argued on Wednesday that Blackmore’s unions were never legal marriages, but common-law relationships sanctioned by Blackmore’s religious beliefs, which carry no legal weight. Related: Winston Blackmore and James Oler found guilty of polygamy in landmark B.C. The convictions have not be entered pending the outcome of the constitutional arguments. If he is convicted, Blackmore is asking for an absolute discharge. His co-accused, James Oler, was found guilty of having five wives.īlackmore is asking for a stay of the proceedings and an exemption from prosecution based on his religious beliefs. Related: Winston Blackmore’s appeal of polygamy charge underwayīlackmore, a leader in the small community, was found guilty earlier this year of one count of polygamy after the court heard he had married 24 women, including three who were 15 years old at the time. The statement followed an RCMP investigation in Bountiful, B.C., where the court has heard residents follow the tenants of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a sect that condones plural or “celestial” marriage. Blackmore, can rely on,” Suffredine said. “His statement, that this is the law and this is what we will enforce and this is what we won’t enforce … is a clear statement that everyone in British Columbia, including Mr. Supreme Court in Cranbrook on Wednesday, arguing that a provincial attorney general in the early 1990s issued a statement that said charging an individual with polygamy would breach their charter rights. Winston Blackmore’s attorney, Blaire Suffredine, was in B.C. The lawyer for a British Columbia man found guilty of marrying two dozen women says his client believed he could not be prosecuted for polygamy.
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